Emergency & I - Reception and Legacy

Reception and Legacy

Emergency & I received overwhelming critical acclaim. The album has been described by Rolling Stone as "a game-changer for indie rock fans," and Pitchfork Media describes it as "one of indie's key LPs." Glide Magazine called the album " landmark masterstroke, still cited by many bands and critics as a turning point in the evolution of indie rock."

Pitchfork Media originally gave the album a 9.6 out of 10, with a short review that read simply, "If you consider yourself a fan of groundbreaking pop, go out and buy this album right now. Now. Get up. Go." Ned Raggett of Allmusic wrote "The band's third full album is a firecracker, showing their at once passionate and sly approach to music—take in everything, put it back out, and give it its own particular sheen and spin—is in no danger of letting up." Robert Christgau wrote "The only way they're punk anymore is that there aren't very many of them and that none of them seems to be playing a keyboard even though most of them can. What they are instead is a much rarer thing thoughtful, quirky, mercurial young adults skilled at transforming doubt into music."

Emergency & I was ranked the best album of 1999 by Pitchfork Media. On the same website, the album was ranked #16 their "redux" version of the Top 100 Albums of the 1990s list, with William Morris writing "The album's lyric book reads better than half the modern volumes on my bookshelf. Modern R&B should have as much rhythm. Modern rock should have as much balls." In addition, the website ranked the track "The City" #64 on their list of the Top 200 Tracks of the 1990s.

The album's 2011 vinyl reissue brought about numerous positive reviews as well. Zachary Houle of Popmatters wrote "Just in terms of a sheer personal enjoyment factor, I would almost argue the case for a new rating: the Spinal Tap-esque 11. Emergency & I is just a relentless record, full of youthful abandon and insightful penetrations into the technology-addled brain. I just can’t get enough of it." In another review of the reissue, Consequence of Sound's Jeremy Larson wrote: "The Plan colors this record with 12 songs that serve as hitching posts for whatever ails you. Life medicine never sounded better ... Emergency & I continues to arch its influence even after a 12-year gap." Pitchfork gave the reissue a perfect 10/10 with a "best new reissue" designation," while Sputnikmusic's Robin Smith rated the album "classic" with a perfect 5.0.